It’s the big question which the entire nation has been asking – will Sunil Chhetri play against Turkmenistan? A day after the talismanic skipper trained with the national team, www.the-aiff.com put forward the question to the man himself. In a freewheeling interview, the Indian skipper spoke at length about the status of his injury, the forthcoming match against Turkmenistan, a look back at the Qualifiers and a look ahead to the path.
EXCERPTS:
Q. What is the status of your injury?
A. It is better than what it was. But I am not in a position to take any call. My work is to keep doing the recovery and it’s up to the medical staff to decide.
What is the importance of the match against Turkmenistan?
It’s a massive game. It not only is in terms of the points but it’s also about the morale — the morale which is so much essential for a young team as ours. It may sound as an irony that I speaking about a young team, but in reality it is. The more you play, the more confident you become moving ahead.
We have a batch of 23 players who have made their debut in the last one year. How much of positive is that?
It’s massive. It was a Catch 22 situation. It was bold move by the coach and if all these players keep playing together as a team we are sure to improve. Not to miss out the understanding and camaraderie that defines us as a unit. At the same time, it gives out the message to all players who aspire to play in the National Team — if you train hard and are capable, you will get your chance.
With so many young guns around, is it difficult?
There’s no denying that it’s different. That’s the norm of football and life. Things change and as an individual you have to make sure that you adapt to the change and have a positive influence on all.
Looking back how do you describe the performances since March 2015.
We would have definitely wanted more points and there were a few games in which we could not do justice to our potential. At the same time, there were a few games where I think where we did really well as a team. I think we played our best football against Guam but on the whole we will have to keep continuing doing so. As we are a young side, hurdles are bound to come but most importantly, we need to keep improving.
The Prime Minister addressed the nation saying efforts must be made to see football reaches every nook and corner of the Country in an effort to establish the country’s identity.
I would request all the stakeholders involved with football to listen to the Prime Minister. We need to pull our socks and give our best. We need 200 percent support. That’s all we can ask.
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